1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to cable connectors, and more particularly to a cable connector for connecting electronic devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
The recent development in electronic technology has increased the amount of signals exchanged between remote electronic devices and realized a higher-speed transmission of signals. This inevitably requires cable connectors to be provided with an increased number of conductors, that is, to include thicker cables containing conductors.
On the other hand, however, there has been a strong demand for downsized cable connectors in response to the downsizing of electronic devices.
A description will now be given, with reference to FIGS. 1A through 2, of a conventional cable connector 1. FIGS. 1A and 1B are a fragmentary perspective view and a fragmentary side view of the cable connector 1, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a lower half part 9a of a housing 9 of the cable connector 1.
The cable connector 1 includes a terminal part 2, a wiring board 3 for connection, a cable 5 including a plurality of conductors 4, and the housing 9 containing these members. In FIG. 2, the upper half part of the housing 9 is not shown.
The terminal part 2 includes a resin insulator 6 and a plurality of terminals 7 provided in two rows in the insulator 6. The insulator 6 has a plurality of holes 6a formed therein in upper and lower two rows. Each terminal 7 has a first end part 7a formed into a straight linear shape and a second end part 7b formed into a tongue-like strip having a step-like-bent portion. Each terminal has the first end part 7a inserted into a corresponding one of the holes 6a of the insulator 6 to be used for connection with an electronic component, which is not shown in the drawings, and has the second end part 7b protruding in the rightward direction of FIG. 1B.
In this case, the wiring board 3 has a plurality of interconnection lines 8 formed only on its upper surface, and pads 8a and 8b are provided on the first and second end parts of each interconnection line, respectively.
A skin 5a of the cable 5 is cut so that the conductors 4 are exposed. The tip part of the exposed portion of each conductor 4 is stripped off a coating layer 5b so as to be a bare wire.
The second end part 7b of each terminal 7 and the tip part of each conductor 4 are positioned on and fixedly soldered to a predetermined one of the pads 8a and a predetermined one of the pads 8b, respectively.
The housing 9 is made of a metal material. An engagement part 9 shaped like a half-cut flange is formed on a side of the lower half part 9a shown in FIG. 2 from which side the cable 5 is inserted thereinto.
The terminal part 6, the wiring board 3, and the cable 5 are connected in the above-described manner to be contained in the housing 9. At this point, as shown in FIG. 2, an end part of the cable 5 which part has the conductors 4 exposed is placed on the engagement part 9, and a fastener 9c whose center portion is curved like an arc is screwed to the lower half part 9b from its upper side. As a result, the cable 5 is fixed to the lower half part 9a of the housing 9. Thereafter, by placing the upper half part (not shown) of the housing 9 on the lower half part 9a, the cable connector 1 having the conductors 4 of the cable 5 connected via the wiring board 3 to the corresponding terminals 7 is completed.
In the case of the above-described cable connector 1, all the conductors 4 are used for the same purpose, for instance, as signal lines. In other cases, two signal lines and one ground line may be grouped as conductors for balanced transmission to increase noise resistance. In such cases, the above-described wiring board 3, for instance, has interconnection lines formed also on its lower surface. Then, one of the two signal lines is connected to the upper surface of the wiring board 3 and the other to the lower surface thereof. Further, the ground line is provided next to either signal line.
However, the above-described conventional cable connector 1 requires the terminals 7 and the conductors 4 provided on first and second parallel ends of the wiring board 3, respectively, to be fixedly soldered one by one to the wiring board 3, thus making this connection operation complicated and troublesome. Further, soldered parts included in the conventional cable connector 1 may cause the distortion of signals especially in a cable for high-speed transmission, which is another disadvantage in terms of a signal transmission characteristic. Furthermore, the conventional cable connector 1 includes the wiring board 3, which is undesirable in terms of the signal transmission characteristic and also prevents the cable connector 1 from being downsized.
Further, the separated conductors 4 showing from the cable 5 should be positioned one by one on the pads 8b formed on the wiring board 3. This makes the connection operation complicated and troublesome, and may decrease accuracy in positioning.
Moreover, if an external force to rotationally move the cable 5 is exerted thereon, the above-described fixing method using the faster 9c cannot completely prevent the rotational movement of the cable 5. Thus, a force is exerted on the tip part of each conductor 4 so that each soldered tip part of the conductors 4 may come off the wiring board 3 or poor connections may be caused between the conductors 4 and the pads 8b. 
It is a general object of the present invention to provide a cable connector in which the above-described disadvantages are eliminated.
A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a downsized cable connector that has a good signal transmission characteristic and has conductors positioned with good accuracy and contacted with terminals efficiently and easily in the production process of the cable connector.
Another more specific object of the present invention is to provide a cable connector that has a cable fixed reliably to a connector so that an external force generated to rotationally move the cable is prevented from being exerted on a part of the cable inside the connector.
The above objects of the present invention are achieved by a cable connector including: a cable including a conductor; a contact connected to a tip part of the conductor; and a connector connected to the cable, the connector including a terminal part including an insulator having a hole formed therein, wherein the contact is pressed into the hole.
The above-described cable connector includes neither soldered parts nor a wiring board for connecting terminals and conductors. This is desirable in terms of a signal transmission characteristic and also allows the cable connector to be free of the poor connections of soldered parts. Further, the cable connector can be produced efficiently and easily, and be downsized by the size of a wiring board.
Additionally, the connector may include an arrangement member for arranging said cable.
Thereby, the cable can be positioned with good accuracy in the fabrication process of the cable connector. Further, even if the connector is connected to a plurality of cables, the cable connector can be produced efficiently and easily by pressing a plurality of contacts into corresponding holes at one time by using a jig.
The above objects of the present invention are also achieved by a cable connector including: a balanced cable including a pair of signal lines and a ground line; a plurality of contacts connected to tip parts of the signal lines; and a connector connected to the cable, the connector including: a terminal part including an insulator having a plurality of holes formed therein, and a plurality of ground contacts penetrating the insulator; and an arrangement member which arranges the cable, wherein each of the contacts is pressed into a corresponding one of the holes, and the ground line is electrically connected via the arrangement part to the ground contacts.
This cable connector also produces the above-described effects of the present invention, and has a good signal transmission characteristic especially at a time of balanced transmission.
Additionally, the arrangement member, the terminal part, the contacts and the cable may be fixedly integrated with one another.
Thereby, an external force is prevented from being exerted on the connections of the conductors and the contacts, imposing no load thereon.
The above objects of the present invention are also achieved by a cable connector including: a cable; a connector including a cover member having a hole formed in a sidewall thereof; and a hollow flexible member for binding and caulking the cable, the hollow flexible member being fitted into the hole, wherein the cable is inserted into the hollow flexible member to be bound and caulked thereby so that an end part of the cable protrudes from the hollow flexible member to be connected to a terminal of the connector.
The above-described cable connector has the cable fixed reliably to the connector. Therefore, even if an external force is exerted to rotationally move the cable, the external force is prevented from being exerted on the part of the cable contained inside the connector. Thus, the above-described cable connector is free of the poor electrical connection of the cable and the connector.
The above objects of the present invention are further achieved by a cable connector including: a plurality of cables; a connector including a cover member having holes formed in a sidewall thereof; and a plurality of hollow flexible members each for binding and caulking a corresponding one of the cables, the hollow flexible members each being fitted into a corresponding one of the holes, wherein each of the cables is inserted into a corresponding one of the hollow flexible members to be bound and caulked thereby so that an end part of each of the cables protrudes from the corresponding one of the hollow flexible members to be connected to a terminal of the connector.
This cable connector is also free of the poor electrical connections of the cables and the connectors for the above-described reason.